EFFECTIVENESS OF COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY ON MARITAL CONFLICT AMONG MARRIED COUPLES IN IGBERE OF ABIA STATE

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) on marital conflict among married couples in Igbere, Abia State. The study adopted a quasi-experimental pretest– non-randomized control group design using a 2×2 factorial matrix. The population consisted of 300 married couples experiencing marital conflict in Igbere community, from which a sample of 48 married couples was selected using a multi-stage sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was a 25-item Marital Conflict Indicator Scale (MCIS) developed by the researcher and validated by experts in Guidance and Counselling and Educational Measurement and Evaluation. The reliability of the instrument was established using Cronbach Alpha with a coefficient of 0.84. Data were collected in three phases: pretest, posttest, and follow-up. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer research questions, while Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy significantly reduced marital conflict among married couples compared to the control group. The study also found that gender had no significant influence on the effectiveness of CBT in reducing marital conflict. The study concluded that CBT is an effective and gender-neutral counselling intervention for reducing marital conflict among married couples. It was recommended that marriage counsellors, religious organizations, and government agencies should adopt CBT in marital counselling programmes to promote marital harmony and family stability in Abia State